Explore the Ruins of Chernobyl Through the Eyes of a Drone

They're beautiful and creepy at the same time.

A drone armed with video equipment recently flew over the skies of Pripyat, a Ukrainian city that was home to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. After the disaster, the city was abandoned, though some curiosity seekers have explored the ruins of the irradiated city.

Danny Cooke took the footage while working on a 60 Minutes segment, providing a rare aerial view of the city. Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl captures some startling contrasts, filming abandoned, decayed swing sets alongside resurgent plant life. In some cases, the plant life has taken over buildings, invading abandoned swimming pools.

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Fast decaying isotopes have let radiation levels drop to acceptable levels for exploration in the Zone of Alienation, though no one still lives in Pripyat, and many of the buildings have decayed to unsafe levels. Though Pripyat is abandoned, several villages in the area are home to handfuls of people in the zone.